Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Amit Shah’s helicopter has been denied permission to land at Malda by the Malda district administration due to ‘ongoing construction work’.
In a letter refusing permission, the district administration’s office stated that as per reports of the executive engineer, PWD (civil) Malda division, construction work is on in ‘full-swing’ for the upgradation of the airport. The letter further adds that the ‘temporary helipad’ is also not fit for use due to the ongoing upgradation project. As such, the Malda airport cannot be regarded as ready for the ‘safe landing of helicopters’.
Receiving this news as a ploy by the West Bengal government to block Amit Shah’s rally in Malda, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has commented that the denial of clearance shows that Mamata Banerjee is ‘abusing her power’ to refuse permission.
Meanwhile, a hotel in Malda has agreed to facilitate the landing of Amit Shah’s helicopter. Having recovered from swine flu, the Malda rally on January 22 is slated to be Amit Shah’s first of five rallies scheduled in Bengal. It is also the BJP’s first rally in West Bengal this year.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had denied the BJP permission to carry out rath yatras in West Bengal and asked the party to plan it in a way that addresses the state government’s concerns. The state government had expressed its apprehensions over how the law and order and communal harmony of the state would be compromised if the rath yatras were allowed.
